Describing himself as a “creator of hirsute and peculiar human-like sculptures”, Ingrao’s visceral sculptures and short films make the viewer do a double take as he explores bizarre new contexts for the human body. From skin reimagined as bubblewrap to a lactating male nipple, his creations land somewhere between comedy and body horror, leaving you unsure whether to laugh or recoil. This contradictory response is exactly Ingrao’s intention, who hopes that his works will “induce an ambivalent desire to touch while simultaneously stirring discomfort and aversion.” We spoke to the artist to find out more about his surreal works.

The elements in your work are so tactile and familiar, but simultaneously somewhat grotesque. How do you use hair to create a feeling of discomfort? Hair is the final touch that brings the whole piece of silicone to life. I don’t think it is difficult to create discomfort as there is a universal aversion involving hair in today’s society. In a society where there is a tendency towards – and normalisation of – the neat and smooth, body hair evokes images of griminess, savagery, and malodorousness. A realistic piece of silicone skin alone brings confusion to the viewer’s mind, and real hair, once punched in as naturally as possible, adds a disturbance in relation to the accepted norms. I also tend to moisturise and wet the hair as it seems to increase the disgust.

As an artist, have you always been so interested in the human form, or was there a progression? I’ve always focused on the human form, every aspect of it: whether it concerns the details, colours and textures of the human skin, the shapes of body parts, hairlines, but also skin diseases or deformations. Every aspect of the body makes me curious and acts as inspiration to my eyes. I am continually zooming closer to the skin surface.

How does inspiration strike you? Inspiration is somehow mysterious to me. Although I’m very curious and observe a lot around me, my own body is my main source of inspiration. I examine my body in every sense and mould it; I work on new techniques to reach further realism and work on new shapes mainly from body life casts. This results in a number of replicas of my own body that I keep in sight in my atelier. Months can pass before inspiration comes to me and in the right combination of elements. It comes most of the time like an impulse; rough ideas appear almost randomly. I then work on it in a very organic way, it takes life by itself as I keep working, and the final result is always unknown.